Andre Adams made a dazzling start to his County Cricket career -- and promised there would be more to come.

Adams hit a sparkling century to rescue Essex on the opening day of their County Championship match at Leicester to put the memory of Monday night's Twenty20 disappointment behind him.

Now the Kiwi all-rounder, who arrived at the end of last week, is looking forward to making more bowlers suffer.

"I'm here to contribute and hopefully there's more to come," he said. "I always want to play my shots from the moment I walk out to bat and I got a couple of short deliveries that I was able to pull away for four and that got me started."

The team were under pressure when Adams arrived at the crease, having subsided to 108-7 after choosing to bat first.

But, in tandem with James Middlebrook's fighting 92, Essex began a gritty recovery from danger.

"Despite the difficult position we were in when I came in, I just went out to play my own game and punish the balls that were there to be hit," Adams added.

The Essex all-rounders put on 198 for the eighth wicket in just 30 overs, with Adams recording the fastest first-class century of the season from just 80 deliveries, including 20 boundaries, reaching three figures with a steepling six.

Middlebrook was the more cautious partner, and it was his wicket which fell to Charlie Dagnell a mere eight runs from a deserved ton of his own.

Adams went next ball, but by then Essex had recovered to 322, a prospect which seemed remote when Alastair Cook and James Foster failed to score.

Leicestershire's batsmen too struggled when they began their reply with the first three wickets tumbling for 39 runs.

Darren Gough bagged a couple having Darren Maddy caught behind as he dabbed forward and Sadler bowled when the batsman shouldered arms.

Published Thursday July 22, 2004

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